“Brownies have grown up,” says Dolcielo’s owner, Nanette Littlestone. “We wanted to turn an ordinary treat into something designed for the adult palate.”

Traditional comfort food takes on a new twist. The brownies showcase a combination of dried fruit and liqueur surrounded by dark chocolate. Dolcielo carries this theme in four unique flavors: Amureo — apricots with Disaronno Amaretto; Bellasanti — cherries with Cherry Heering; Celesola — pineapple with Bacardi Gold; and Donamato — plums with Kahlúa Especial. The company also offers an original brownie without fruit and liqueur, Divina, for those who prefer an unadulterated sweet.

There may not have been much good about the faux tiki craze of the mid-20th Century, but the drinks from that period are not that bad. Trader Vic and Donn Beach created some mighty fine beverages, and for today’s entry, we venture into Zombie-land. Not the Woody Harrelson film, but the drink created by Donn Beach himself.

If you don’t know anything about Donn Beach, he was a Texas guy who traveled the world and then opened a bar/restaurant just after prohibition. The name: Don the Beachcomber. Sure, they served regular Chinese food, but they called it Polynesian, and, heck, their drinks were served in fancy mugs and glasses. People loved it, especially the rum drinks, a few of which Donn Beach is credited with creating. Some say he created the Mai Tai, but I like to think Trader Vic did that.

The Zombie was his creation, though, and he kept its actual recipe a secret. People have been trying to recreate it forever, but nobody really knows exactly how he did it. He would make his own mixers and label them by number so no one knew what was in it. All they knew was that a Zombie had mix #4.

A lot of people have tried to research the original zombie recipe, but the original ingredients are hard to find. I like the version found on the Drinking Made Easy site. It’s fairly straightforward and doesn’t contain anything crazy. Here is their recipe with my changes in rum to make it even more accessible to the modern stay at home cocktail drinker:
• 1 1/2 oz. light rum
• 1 oz. dark rum
• 3/4 oz. 151 rum
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/4 oz. falernum
• 3/4 oz. cherry heering
• 2 dashes Angostura
• 1/4 tsp grenadine
• 6 dashes Herbsaint
Donn Beach would put his in a blender, but I don’t prefer blended drinks, so I use crushed ice and then shake it really well.

Yes, that’s a lot of ingredients. Sure, it calls for Luxardo Maraschino liquer, but I already have Cherry Heering, so I didn’t want to buy another cherry liquor. For this recipe, I used the Fee Brothers’ non-alcoholic Falernum, but I plan to make my own alcoholic version soon.

So about the taste of the Zombie: sweet and tart and powerful. There’s a real alcohol kick in the back of the throat that stays with you between drinks. Heck, there’s 151 in there! There’s the sour of the juices, but their tempered by the pineapple and the grenadine and bottled Falernum. But it’s not sweet like a sweet and sour or anything like that. The sweetness is hardly noticeable. It’s really just enough to balance out the sour so the alcohol shines through.

This is a drink that you wouldn’t want to drink too many of, and Donn limited his customers to two of them. Sure, it was partly a marketing ploy (“Come and taste the drink so powerful they will only see you two of them!”), but there’s also a reason for it. After drinking a half of one, I can feel it. I wonder what I will feel like on my second one?

Grant Parker is a numbers man, and his math adds up to some of the freshest, most creative cocktails in Dallas.
… His attention to detail makes him a whiz as a bar manager. He manages his pours as he manages books, and if you watch him, you can see he rarely wastes a drop. Like a balance on a scale, his cocktails balance the sweet, sour and savory to create a perfect harmony. One of his signature drinks is the Rio Diablo made with Leblon Cachaca, Cherry Heering, passion fruit puree, cilantro, lime sour and a very potent spicy red sauce called sriracha. Too much sriracha on anything can be trouble, but his exact amount gives the drink flavor without lighting your mouth on fire. If you are a fan of spice, don’t be afraid to ask for a double helping of the red stuff. He’ll spice it up at your request. His favorite tools behind the bar are the muddler and the double strainer, and he uses both to extract flavor while keeping the presentation perfect.

I am the source. I posted this invention of mine in the “Post Your New Cocktail Creations Here” thread here on January 29th, 2007. How soon they forget! I had shortly before picked up a bottle of Cherry Heering (which doesn’t seem to be its official name anymore) on a whim, and came up with the cocktail above as a use for it.

Singapore Sling: Once dubbed the ‘Million Dollar Cocktail,’ the Singapore Sling is arguably one of the most famous cocktails to trace its roots to a hotel bar. Born in 1887 at The Raffles Hotel, the original recipe has since been lost– but a delicious iteration can be found at Forty Four at Royalton (44 W. 44th St.). Gin, Cherry Heering, orange liqueur, fresh organic pineapple juice, and the rest of the Sling’s signature ingredients will have you ready to book a one-way ticket to Singapore City.

..Tim Williams from Province
While he didn’t have dancers or stagehands, Tim was funny and witty, and brought his mom along for good luck. Tim used the plain vodka, ancho chile-infused honey, Cherry Heering, fresh lemon juice and candied lemon peel for garnish. His “The Federale” was spicy, smooth and complex.http://thinkingofdrinking.blogspot.com/2011/01/crickets-and-cocktail-competition.html
And the Winner Is….
The competition was fierce, and the judges had some tough decisions to make. And the host made it tough on the two Tims when he announced the winner. He said it’s “Tim………” and drew it out for a long time. Luckily, the winners were Tim Lacey AND Tim Williams.

Congrats to Tim and Tim, who are off to New York City next month to fight for the national title and a trip to New Zealand!

..The classic Blood and Sand is an odd combination of Scotch, sweet vermouth, blood-orange juice, and cherry brandy. The smoky flavors of the Scotch are complemented by the sweetness of the orange juice, while the vermouth fills out the midpalate. Named after Rudolph Valentino’s bullfighter movie of the same name, this drink will readily defeat any winter evening.